Maybe you heard the news about the mom blogger who recently #ragequit the mom blogging world and whizzed on her entire profession and community in the process. Yeah, that was super crappy but that mom seems to have forgotten what it means to be authentic online or maybe she never really understood it in the first place. I dunno the specifics but it sounds like she got caught up in portraying something artificial because she thought that’s what was required to keep the fat paychecks and the fab opportunities coming in.
The thing is, there’s totally another way to do it and reap the same kind of rewards: be (and stay) authentic online.
The photo of my family above is kinda funny because I like to make the joke that everything OWTK has achieved has been on the backs of my two daughters. That joke is only funny (if it is at all) because I’m not the type of blogger who is faking it or exploiting my kids in any way to gain clicks, eyeballs, financial success or glamorous opportunities. If any of those things have happened for me, my family and this here website it is because of the exact opposite: I’m real, I don’t splatter my kids all over the internet, I don’t exploit my kids tears or tantrums, I don’t call them names on social media to be shocking, and I don’t gush over products or places that I don’t actually like. I refuse to play any of those games.
Also important is that I try to keep as much close to the vest as possible, to be private-ish in the age of oversharing, all while showcasing an authentic mix of who we are and what we are doing. The balance isn’t always easy, but it is possible without shaming your kids or your online community. Here are some tips to be and stay authentic online:
- Understand who you are offline before you start being someone online.
- Resist the urge to share only the shiniest best bits from your life.
- Don’t say something online that you wouldn’t say offline to someone you respect.
- Be gracious online but stop it with the hashtag #blessed.
- If you are only sharing something or posting a photo of something because you think people will like it or the brand will reach out to you and offer you money or more of that product, stop doing that.
There are other ways to be the real version of you online too, like picking up a .ME domain name that is very much you, something like JeffBogle.me (although not that one because that would be very much me not very much you). Having a .ME domain name that quite literally IS you will push you toward a more authentic online existence in your personal and professional life.
This post was inspired and sponsored by Domain.ME, the provider of the personal domains that end in .ME. As a company, they aim to promote thought leadership to the tech world. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
